The Advantage Of Moving Decisively

My hair stylist does what many do in her specialty: she rents a chair in a salon. She runs her own business—schedules and communicates directly with her clients—but relies on the salon owner for bricks and mortar support.

When COVID shut down the salon, she had to rely on unemployment and—eventually—some outcalls to clients’ homes. At first she thought she’d simply wait for the salon to reopen. But when the owner’s re-opening plan meant she’d have limited access to her chair (including a night shift that didn’t jibe with her clientele), she rethought everything about her work.

And decided to buy an RV.

In about three weeks, she built a business plan (sourcing a cool spot with hook-ups to house the RV), got a business loan, located a used RV, bargained hard and is starting a renovation to make it into the studio she envisions.

If her clientele remains loyal (they have when she switched salons before), she’ll have an immediate (small) bump in her pre-COVID net when the RV starts operating. In three years when she pays off the loan, she’ll have reduced her operating costs by 90% by becoming an owner, not a renter.

That’s not counting her opportunity to expand her top line by doing special events or even franchising once she builds it out to her vision.

Sure moving decisively in the midst of crazy change can be stressful, but it’s also when opportunities present themselves.

Sometimes, you just have to zag.